'Innocent' Robinson shattered

By
Emma Quayle

Suspended conditioning coach devastated by controversy surrounding program he oversaw.

ESSENDON'S suspended conditioning coach is devastated by the controversy surrounding the program he oversaw last year and has expressed his innocence, his lawyer says.

Dean Robinson, who has been stood down pending the investigation into the club's supplement program of 2012, has hired high-profile lawyer David Galbally, QC, to look after his interests.

Galbally said Robinson and his family were shattered by the publicity storm generated since the AFL's integrity unit and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority began investigating the club last week.

Robinson, former conditioning coach at Geelong and Gold Coast, joined Essendon before the 2012 pre-season and oversaw the players' strength and conditioning program last year. ''He's devastated. All I can say is he's done nothing wrong and that he's devastated and shattered about what's currently taking place,'' Galbally told Fairfax Media.

Galbally, who represented Kurt Tippett during last year's investigation into Adelaide's draft and salary cap breaches, said Robinson had simply engaged his services.

''He's a young man with a young family and everything that's happening has placed enormous stress on him, his wife and his kids,'' he said. ''It's been an enormous stress for him, the fact that there's this massive amount of publicity and it's all been aimed at him.''

Coach James Hird reiterated his concern for his worried players, who will play pre-season games against Collingwood and Western Bulldogs on Friday. ''I just want the players to be cleared and then we'll get on with the rest … this sort of speculation is never good for anyone,'' he said.